Religion and Intelligence
- Thread starter Stealth
- Start date
no offence to anybody here, but it seems from my experience, and people i have met, that religion is something for people who have nothing in their life (not many friends, not much money or material possessions, maybe a few deceased family members) and people who have been sheltered. its just something for people to look forward to. so if u think about it, religion brainwashes u, and i think weak, unintelligent people can easily be brainwashed....therefore, this makes sense to me....
edit..not sure if it has anything to do with anything, but im talking mostly about white people who are mostly christians, catholics...etc
edit..not sure if it has anything to do with anything, but im talking mostly about white people who are mostly christians, catholics...etc
^^^The following is relevant to what you said...
BHAGAVAD-GITA: As It Is
translation and purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute
TEXT 16
catur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukrtino 'rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani ca bharatarsabha
SYNONYMS
catuh-vidhah--four kinds of; bhajante--render services; mam--unto Me; janah--persons; su-krtinah--those who are pious; arjuna--O Arjuna; artah--the distressed; jijnasuh--the inquisitive; artha-arthi--one who desires material gain; jnani--one who knows things as they are; ca--also; bharata-rsabha--O great one amongst the descendants of Bharata.
TRANSLATION
O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me--the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.
PURPORT
Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called sukrtinah, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord. Out of these there are four classes of men--those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth. These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service. Pure devotional service is without aspiration and without desire for material profit. The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu defines pure devotion thus:
anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama
"One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service."
When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees. As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees.
Those who are always busy with fruitive activities come to the Lord in material distress and at that time associate with pure devotees and become, in their distress, devotees of the Lord. Those who are simply frustrated also come sometimes to associate with the pure devotees and become inquisitive to know about God. Similarly, when the dry philosophers are frustrated in every field of knowledge, they sometimes want to learn of God, and they come to the Supreme Lord to render devotional service and thus transcend knowledge of the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma and come to the personal conception of Godhead by the grace of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotee. On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, and they search after mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.
(taken from www.asitis.com/7/16.html)
BHAGAVAD-GITA: As It Is
translation and purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 7. Knowledge of the Absolute
TEXT 16
catur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukrtino 'rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani ca bharatarsabha
SYNONYMS
catuh-vidhah--four kinds of; bhajante--render services; mam--unto Me; janah--persons; su-krtinah--those who are pious; arjuna--O Arjuna; artah--the distressed; jijnasuh--the inquisitive; artha-arthi--one who desires material gain; jnani--one who knows things as they are; ca--also; bharata-rsabha--O great one amongst the descendants of Bharata.
TRANSLATION
O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me--the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.
PURPORT
Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called sukrtinah, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord. Out of these there are four classes of men--those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth. These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service. Pure devotional service is without aspiration and without desire for material profit. The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu defines pure devotion thus:
anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama
"One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service."
When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees. As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees.
Those who are always busy with fruitive activities come to the Lord in material distress and at that time associate with pure devotees and become, in their distress, devotees of the Lord. Those who are simply frustrated also come sometimes to associate with the pure devotees and become inquisitive to know about God. Similarly, when the dry philosophers are frustrated in every field of knowledge, they sometimes want to learn of God, and they come to the Supreme Lord to render devotional service and thus transcend knowledge of the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramatma and come to the personal conception of Godhead by the grace of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotee. On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, and they search after mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.
(taken from www.asitis.com/7/16.html)
"if u think about it, religion brainwashes u, and i think weak, unintelligent people can easily be brainwashed"
To me this, only applies to those in Organized, Orthodox Religions. That's just my IMO, because alot of Christians who I have debated with always use these following terms or statements, Well My pastor said..., or my church said, or the Priest said, or my mom or someone said. But it's better to use direct scripture and THE PROPER interpration, instead of My Dad or Pastor Said.
To me this, only applies to those in Organized, Orthodox Religions. That's just my IMO, because alot of Christians who I have debated with always use these following terms or statements, Well My pastor said..., or my church said, or the Priest said, or my mom or someone said. But it's better to use direct scripture and THE PROPER interpration, instead of My Dad or Pastor Said.
Then same applies to scientist right, when they say according to my research and this and that. I don't want to debate about it here, but let me ask those who will use science, even though science has been brought up in here, but how do they know if world is millions of years old, how do they know that the so called Comet Extinct Dinosaurs wasn't caused by a great flood, you know what I mean.
heres a question...
is there a boundry scinece has yet to reach in its capacity of fact finding?
i believe that once u understand that question, u find that its possible that at some point science and religion blend together..
(I.e. the bible says we were created from dirt and science has proven we have minerals inside us specific to the earth itself)
however i believe that we are a product of the earth not merely a seperate inhabiting species
is there a boundry scinece has yet to reach in its capacity of fact finding?
i believe that once u understand that question, u find that its possible that at some point science and religion blend together..
(I.e. the bible says we were created from dirt and science has proven we have minerals inside us specific to the earth itself)
however i believe that we are a product of the earth not merely a seperate inhabiting species
